Graeme Wearden of ZDNet UK reports that in response to consumer pressure (including an online petition) Sony has decided to produce 1,000 copies of a PS2 Linux Kit — but the kits will only be available in Japan . . .

Officials at Sony's UK offices confirmed on Thursday that the company is to release an official version of Linux to run on the PlayStation 2. However, it will only be compatible with Japanese versions of the console at this stage.

According to Sony, the move is in response to consumer pressure, which has included online petitions. Users will receive a hard drive with built-in 10Mbit Ethernet socket that will plug into the console's PCMCIA slot, a mouse and a keyboard, as well as a PS2-compatible version of the popular open source operating system. The PS2 Linux Kit will cost the equivalent of about $200 and will go on sale in June 2001.

Only 1,000 copies of the Linux kit will be manufactured initially. “The decision whether to ship more will depend on the feedback and requests from the Linux communities,” said Sony in a press release.

However, the new release will not be available for PlayStation 2 users in the U.S. or Europe. “The Linux release is only for the Japanese market, and I'm not aware of any plans to offer it in America or Europe,” said a spokesman for Sony.

The PlayStation 2 includes regional encoding, so that a Japanese console cannot play games released in Europe and vice versa. This led to allegations that Sony was overcharging European consumers, who did not have the option of importing a cheaper unit from the U.S. or Japan. Sony has consistently denied this charge.